Train

Here's a new one! I just got this back fully mastered from Abbey Road last week. Yes, I master stuff at Abbey Road in London, and why not! My friend and writing partner Randy Sitzler brought a lyric start for this to a session in 2020. I did a quick demo, which I'll share later, and almost immediately sent the track to one of my oldest friends and former bandmates, Lou Mondelli. Lou is, among other things, a fantastic drummer and being stuck at home in 2020 made me want to collaborate more than ever...

I met Lou sometime in 1985 I think at Studio G in Passaic, NJ. I had helped put the finishing touches on my friend Glenn Namian's 8-track recording studio above a garage in the last remnants of the old Polish neighborhood in Passaic. Glenn had been my high school marching band drum instructor and was an old drum corps guy, so most of the musicians that showed up in the early days of the studio knew each other from drum corps. (if you don't know anything about drum corps, go here: (https://www.dci.org/) 

So, one day this new guy showed up who had an awesome pedigree. He had been in a legendary drum corps outfit, The Muchachos, and he'd made records and toured the world with Fandango in the 70's. Man, he could play! He and I hit it off right away and he became one of my defacto older brothers, getting me in other bands (more on that later) and became a lifelong friend. Lou even sat in with Walt and I in North Carolina once, and the Mystiqueros at Luckenbach!

Anyway, I sent the track to Lou and he made it sound great. Of course. Then when I thought I was done, Randy, always the stickler for lyrical integrity, found a flaw in the lyric. So we fixed it. I went in and recorded the vocal again, and then sent it off to Jeff McQueen for some lonesome sounding pedal steel guitar. 

So... here it is. A little broken heart love story. Hope you dig it.